Lesson 26: The Will of God in Prayer (Part 3)

Lesson 26: The Will of God in Prayer (Part 3) Bible Texts: 1 Peter 5:7; 3 John 2; Philippians 4:19. Central Truth: we can find a promise in God's Word for every aspect of life. Then we can know how to pray, and we can have the assurance before we pray what His will is. Studying God's Word is like searching for valuable gems. We can find a few gems on top of the ground without much digging, but if we really want to get down where the valuable veins are, we have to dig for them. To learn the deeper truths of God, we are told to by him "Search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me "(John 5:39). Surface reading of our memory text in (First John 5:14- 15) has brought some to the wrong conclusion about what John was saying here. He said, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Some have thought John said, "if it is God's will, He will hear me, and if it isn't, He won't." However, that wasn't what he meant. John was saying if we have God's Word on a matter, we don't have to say, "if it be thy will," because we know His Word is His will. For this reason, I encourage people to find Scriptures with a promise concerning what they are praying about. Sometimes when people asked me to pray for them, I say, "What Scripture are you standing on?" Many times, they answer they have none in particular. "Well," I tell them, "That is what you'll get, nothing in particular." If your request is in accordance with God's Word, that is His will. It has to be His will for Him to promise it in His Word. It Is His will that we have everything He has provided for us in His Word. In (Isaiah 55:10-- 11) "for as the rain and snow comes down from the heavens, and return not thither, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the Sower and bread to the eater, So Shall My Word be that goes forth out of my mouth: It Shall Not Return to Me void but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." The amplified Bible. I have found a promise in His Word for every aspect of life. That means I can know just how to pray, and I can have the assurance of what His will is before I pray. Many times, the reason prayers aren't working for people is because they are praying in darkness. They are trying to get God to help them apart from the Word. We are to walk in the light of the Word. No one can build a successful prayer life if he or she doesn't know the Word of God. A successful prayer life is built and based on the written Word of God. When we pray according to the Word of God, it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We know which way to walk. Too much of the time, however, because we fail to see what God's Word has to say about a subject, we stumble about, not knowing just where we are going. Prayer then becomes a matter of desperation, begging God to do something. But when we know the Word of God ahead of time, we can come to God with confidence and boldness.